Formatting Dialogue

 

Commas in Direct Address (2)

Students often forget to insert commas when doing the following things:

  1. Addressing the reader in a blog post.
Wrong Correct

Hi everyone it's me again.

Hi everyone, it's me again.

  1. Addressing the reader in a letter.
Wrong Correct

Hubert you won't believe what happened next.

Hubert, you won't believe what happened next.

  1. Writing dialogue for a short story.
Wrong Correct

Pamela said, "Be careful Leroy the raccoon might have rabies."

Pamela said, "Be careful, Leroy, the raccoon might have rabies."

"Shawn be careful!" screamed Tonya.

"Shawn, be careful!" screamed Tonya.

"Ross do you really love me?" asked Jennifer.

"Ross, do you really love me?" asked Jennifer.

Vivian said, "Donald you're a jerk."

Vivian said, "Donald, you're a jerk."

Instructions for the Quiz

  1. Login to the quiz.
  2. In the text box, write three lines of dialogue. Each sentence should start with a tag. Furthermore,
    1. In the first line, the speaker should use a term of direct address at the beginning of their sentence.
    2. In the second line, the speaker should use a term of direct address in the middle of their sentence.
    3. In the third line, the speaker should use a term of direct address at the end of their sentence.

Your finished work should look very much like this:

Nicolas said, "Mom, can we get a dog?"

Judy said, "The problem, Captain, is that the ship is sinking."

Gertrude said, "That's dangerous, Jeff!"

Quiz